SPIRITUAL: 5 Days of Inspiration for a Spirit-Led LifeSampl

DAY 1 - SOAR WITH GOD’S POWER

The Andean condor weighs up to thirty-three pounds and has a wingspan stretching ten feet. It is the heaviest soaring bird in the world. Scientists strapped recording equipment on eight birds in Patagonia and recorded more than 250 hours of flight time.

What they discovered was incredible. The condors spent just 1 percent of their time aloft flapping their wings, mostly during take-off. One bird flew farther than one hundred miles in a little more than five hours without ever flapping its wings.

The sky is not empty to these birds but is filled with invisible features such as wind gusts, currents of rising warm air, and streams of air pushed upward by mountains. These amazing birds basically just soar and almost never flap their wings.

Riding the air currents allows the Andean condors to travel long distances while minimizing the exertion of beating their wings. Their exceptional skill at soaring is essential for their scavenger lifestyle.

They circle hours a day over high mountains in their search for a meal of carrion. As they circle, they take advantage of the thermal uplifts—the rising gusts of warm air. This allows them to stay aloft long enough to find food to eat.

These birds exert little effort and yet gain outstanding results. They have mastered the art of soaring, and they reap the benefits of provision for their needs. There is much we can learn from them.

Ephesians 3:21 tells us, “His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine.” Too often we try to provide for our needs instead of relying on God’s power. We struggle, we worry, and we labor—all within our own power. We try to solve our problems without God’s help.

We know little of living in 1 percent personal effort and 99 percent God’s power. If anything, it is the exact opposite. We often can have a meager amount of God’s power in our lives, yet His invisible power at work in us can do so much more than we even think is possible.

God calls us to soar, not to strive. He wants us to rest in His unlimited power instead of in our limited strength. We have the Spirit’s power available to us, and when we ask for God’s help, we will receive it.

So much of what we struggle with could be taken care of by God. All we must do is stop striving and scheming—and trust that God is able to do it.